John A. Davis
|birth_place = United States |death_date = |death_place = |body_discovered = |death_cause = |resting_place = |resting_place_coordinates = |residence = Dallas, Texas |ethnicity = |citizenship = |other_names = John Davis |known_for = Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius |education = |alma_mater = Southern Methodist University |employer = Idee Studios |occupation = Film director, producer, screenwriter, animator, voice actor |home_town = |yearsactive = 1981–present |title = |salary = |networth = |height = |weight = |term = |predecessor = |successor = |party = |boards = |religion = |spouse = |partner = |children = |parents = |relations = |callsign = |signature = |website = |footnotes = }} John Alexander Davis (born October 26, 1961) is an American film director, writer, animator, voice actor and composer known for his work both in stop-motion animation as well as computer animation, live action and live-action/CGI hybrids. Davis is best known for his creation of Nickelodeon's Jimmy Neutron franchise, which enjoyed popularity in the early-mid 2000s. Early life Davis began animating as a child using his parent's 8 mm camera to film action figures in stop motion. His interest in animation began when watched a stop motion film called Icharus at a film festival. He worked on the stop motion film The Bermuda Triangle in 1981 while still attending Southern Methodist University, where he graduated in 1984. Career K&H Productions Soon after his graduation Davis joined the animation company K&H Productions, working with 2-D animator Keith Alcorn. Soon, Davis made the transition from claymation to 2-D animation with Alcorn's help. K&H did production work for commercials, public-access television cable TV animation, and film festivals. K&H Productions declared bankruptcy in early 1987; that same year DNA Productions was founded. Jimmy Neutron Davis came up with the idea for Jimmy Neutron (then named Johnny Quasar) sometime during the 1980s and wrote a script titled Runaway Rocketboy (later the name of the second pilot) which was later abandoned. While moving to a new house in the early 1990s he stumbled upon the script and re-worked it as a short film titled Johnny Quasar and presented it in SIGGRAPH where he met Steve Oedekerk and worked on a television series as well as the movie. ''The Ant Bully'' In 2006, he directed the film The Ant Bully after being approached by Tom Hanks to direct the film. Production on the film made Davis resign from production of Jimmy Neutron in January 2003. He gave his position away as Executive in charge of production to Steve Oedekerk. He also directed the movie's Video Game. ''Planet Sheen'' Davis co-created Planet Sheen in 2010 with Keith Alcorn and Steve Oedekerk. It is a spin-off of his show The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius. Proposed Neopets Film Davis was set to direct an upcoming feature film based on Neopets with Warner Bros., together with producer Dylan Sellers and writer Rob Lieber. It was originally set to release on April 20, 2009, but was changed to 2011 and later changed to winter of 2012, before finally being cancelled with no other projects announced. Nominations In 2000, Davis was up for an Emmy along with 8 others in the category Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming More Than One Hour) for Olive, the Other Reindeer, but lost to Discovery Channel's Walking with Dinosaurs. In 2002, Davis was nominated for an Oscar along with Steve Oedekerk in the category of Best Animated Feature for Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, but lost to DreamWorks Animation's Shrek. Filmography Internet Astrophotography Since about 2007, Davis has become a recognized astrophotographer, publishing high-resolution, generally wide-field images in astronomy magazines,photograph: "The Deep Sky in Orion" in Astronomy (magazine), May 2013, p. 72.photograph: "Dusty Cepheus" Sky and Telescope (magazine), August 2012, p. 78.photograph: "Clouds of Polaris" Sky and Telescope (magazine), July 2013, p. 73. and in NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day. In 2009, Davis largely founded and continues to lead APSIG, the Astrophotography Special Interest Group, associated with the Texas Astronomical Society of Dallas. See also *Category:Films directed by John A. Davis References External links * *Bermuda Triangle pharosproductions.com *DNA Productions dnahelix.com Category:1961 births Category:Living people Category:Animators from Texas Category:American film producers Category:American television directors Category:American television producers Category:American television writers Category:American male voice actors Category:American male screenwriters Category:Animated film directors Category:The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius Category:Southern Methodist University alumni Category:Rome Prize winners Category:Astrophotographers Category:Male television writers Category:People from Dallas Category:Film directors from Texas